DeepSeek Looks to Raise $7 Billion as Revenues Jump Tenfold

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is planning to raise $7 billion in a funding round, as its revenues have surged tenfold since early 2025. The company generated roughly 475 million yuan ($70.7 million) in revenue during the first seven months of 2026, up from about 47.5 million yuan ($7.1 million) for all of 2025, according to The Information.

DeepSeek reported a net loss of 715 million yuan ($106 million) for the same period, down from 935 million yuan ($139 million) in 2025. The company is in talks with potential investors to secure the funding at a valuation of 500 billion yuan ($74.4 billion). DeepSeek's ability to maintain low operating costs and improve the efficiency of its AI infrastructure, resulting in a gross profit margin of 44.6% for the first seven months of 2026, sets it apart from competitors like OpenAI.

The company spent about 11 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) on AI infrastructure-related expenses during the first half of 2026, a tenfold increase from 2025. DeepSeek recently announced plans to build a team to compete with Anthropic's Claude Code in the market for AI agents that automate business tasks.